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I found a "Fasti christianae religionis" edition online, at the Beinecke Digital Collections. The book was of importance for Lazzarelli, who wrote it, and it filled his time in Rome after 1475.

Manuscript on parchment of 1) Dedication to Ferdinand of Aragon and to his son Alphonse, Duke of Calabria. 2) Dialogue between Lazarelli and his Muse. 3) Books 1-3 on methods of counting time, moveable feasts, the ages of the world, the Jewish patriarchs, popes (the latest, Paul II, 1464-71), etc. 4) Calendar of moveable feasts in 1476 and November-June of 1477. 5) Books 4-16, March through February, and final book entitled Iudicium. 6) Calendar, March through February, with two series per month, the first with Christian feasts, the second with agricultural, zodiacal and historical (Roman and Jewish) information. 7) Thirteen poems by others in honor of Lazarelli. Eleven poets are represented; most of those identified are associated with the Accademia Pomponiana in Rome in the 1480's.

I found the above mentioned text, who indeed makes some relation between Sweynheim and Regiomontanus plausible (I've read the text meanwhile), with the help of Hans Gaab from Fürth (near Nuremberg), who is active in the research of local astronomy.http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%BCrnb ... sellschaft

He pointed also to a very nice star map from the year 1503, in which the planet Mercury is presented in a way, that one can decide, that it descended from the Mantegna Tarocchi Mercury (picture 42) ...

Thanks to Hans Gaab I got also one of the remaining objects of the Danhauser/Wolgmut project 1493/97, which wasn't finally not realized with the suspected reason, that the expensive Schedel'sche Weltchonik didn't pay out and the new project had another too high risk.

My information says, that there were either c. 360 or 316 woodcuts made for this project. From a second source I know about the opinion, that c. 50 of them have been identified.
I knew only this one, a Philosophia with some similarity to the Mantegna Tarocchi Philosophy.

The map of 1515 became the first printed star map, as I understood it.

The earlier star map (1503) wasn't made by Dürer, but by Conrad Heinfogel. http://naa.net/ain/personen/show.asp?ID=47
This was a pupil of Bernhard Walther, and Bernhard Walther cooperated in not clear manner with Regiomontanus (1471-75). Possibly as a sponsor in the beginning. After the death of Regiomontanus he proceeded with the work.

From the operations of Mercury, they made an Image at the hour of Mercury, Mercury ascending in Gemini, the form of which was an handsome young man, bearded, having in his left hand a rod in which a serpent is twyned about, in his right carrying a dart, having his feet winged; They report that this Image conferreth knowledge, eloquence, diligence in merchandizing and gain; moreover to beget peace and concord, and to cure feavers;

They made another Image of Mercury, Mercury ascending in Virgo, for good will, wit and memory; The form of which was a man sitting upon a chaire, or riding on a Peacock, having Eagles feet, and on his head a crest, and in his left hand holding a cock or fire.

Well, a sort of older astrology.

I remember to have seen another, likely earlier, Mercury in the Mantegna Tarocchi style in a French or Burgundian source. That's somehow lost.
The Mercury in the Eschecs Amoureux has similar symbols.

Should have been painted in the 1460s. Mercury as the killer of Argos with the 100 eyes. But not with bird's feet.

Argos and Io and Mercury are part of the Ovid stories. Perhaps one should consider this.

"Franconia" should be the place, where the "Fränkische Losbuch" found to some existence, the oldest of the texts, which led to my occupation with the theme "The Pope and the Donkey".viewtopic.php?f=11&t=663&hilit=donkey

The Fränkische Losbuch (estimated to be from 1425-50) contains a sort of astrology, in which birds - somehow - seem to have been presented "planets". It uses a system of 22x22x22x22 elements.
One of the 22-groups contains 13 zodiac signs (1-13; 12 normal zodiac signs + a bird - a crow), 5 others, which I take as planets (14-18; 4 birds and a camel), 2, which I take as animals for sun + moon (19-20; a dog and stag) and 2, which present Emperor and Pope (accompanied by hare + donkey).

The problem "Mercury with bird's feet" observed in Nuremberg 1502/03 remembered myself on the lot book made in Franconia some time earlier.
Nuremberg had been clearly a city wth persons interested in astronomy, at least since the time of Regiomontans, when he founded a publishing house there for astronomical topic 1471-75. Nuremberg might have been a city with astronomical interests before, but my knowledge is limited in this question. I just remember, that Johann the alchemist, father of Barbara of Brandenburg, who married to Mantova around 1437, had ideas in this directions and some relation to Nuremberg. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John,_Marg ... g-Kulmbach

In my opinion (and my theory to the Fränkische Losbuch) the idea, that birds present "planets" had been very old, possibly going to the Greek time 400 BC.

Corvus, the crow, is an old star picture.
Tukan is still a star picture, was invented by Johannes Bayer in 1603. A man from Augsburg, so not too far from Nuremberg.
Grus (crane) is still a star picture and was also invented by Johannes Bayer.
Phoinix is still a star picture and Bayer took it from Keyser and Houtman.
Pavo (peacock), close to Indus, is still a star picture and Bayer took it from Keyser and Houtman.

Another source gives this context:

Keyser and Houtman, on the request of an astronomer Petrus Plancius, observed many Southern Stars during an exploration journey 1595-97. All these observations were put together by Johannes Bayer in his Uranometria. "This was the first atlas to cover the entire celestial sphere."

On this 12 new constellations were formed:
"Twelve constellations in the southern hemisphere that were first described by Johann Bayer in his 1603 star atlas Uranometria. They are Apus (the Bird of Paradise), Chamaeleon, Dorado (the Goldfish), Grus (the Crane), Hydrus (the Lesser Water Snake), Indus (the Indian), Musca (the Fly), Pavo (the Peacock), Phoenix (the Firebird), Triangulum Australe the Southern Triangle, Tucana (the Toucan), and Volans (the Flying Fish)."

A lot of flying objects, inclusive Musca, the fly, and Volans, the flying fish. The old collection of star pictures based on the data used by Ptelomy had only 4 flying objects of 48.

Huck wrote:I got a contact to Detlef Markmann, author of a dissertation in 1998 called "Kontinuität und Innovation am ferraresischen Hof zur Zeit Leonello d´Estes (1407-1450)". His work was based on studies, which he made at a stay at Ferrara 1991-95.
It contains a longer article about playing cards in Ferrara, mainly based on Franceschini material. Ortalli had published his "Prince and the playing cards" in 1996. Markmann didn't know this publication. His own report to Ferrarese playing cards is rather good (pages 187 - 203; especially as one has to consider, that there are not really useful books about Tarot History in German language; but, anyway, dissertations usually don't reach the common Tarot market).

Markmann (p. 183/184) offered also the famous letter of Guarino, which is frequently mentioned in the theme "Muses production in Ferrara".

Markmann presents the information, that Angelo Maccagnino (= Angelo Parrasio = Angelo da Siena or Parrasio) had been responsible for the first realisation of the Muses (we had this information).. Further he mentioned, that arrasio had student of Rogier van Weyden ... I don't remember this detail in our earlier studies (maybe I'm in error about it).
Researching this I detected, that Murray Mencies, once active in our email-group LTarot especially to the questions of the Mantegna Tarocchi and the painter Parrasio, has published a book "The Q MOTIF in RENAISSANCE ART" ...http://books.google.de/books?id=9bhLBAA ... navlinks_s

Markmann notes, that according Pardi (Giuseppe Pardi, Leonello d'Este marchese di Ferrara, Bologna 1904) Rogier von Weyden had been in Ferrara in 1449 and sold a picture to Leonello (Markmann doubts that, and points to the possibility, that the picture might have been sold by an art trader, and not by Rogier van Weyden himself). Leonello showed two Muses pictures from Parrasio and a Ritratto of Rogier van Weyden to Cyriaco d'Ancona in 1449. From the description of this visit it's known, that Muses picture production had started.

Markmann notes, that Leonello had also asked Theodoros Gaza for advice in the the painting of the Muses. He notes, that Gaza had been Rektor of the University in 1444 (and otherwise occasionally teaching Greek in Ferrara (noted 1447 and 1475, but he hadn't been in Ferrara all the time; according my researches).

Inscriptions: Inscription Content
Recto: inscribed in black chalk ' melpomene' and 'teologia' under the upper figures; cut off inscription along bottom edge, at left 'musica'? and 'poesia'? on the right. Numbered '13' in pen and brown ink at upper right corner. Verso: Numbered '14' in pen and brown ink at upper left corner, cut off, only '4' visible

made c. 1530-40

Curator's comments:
For comment on the album to which this sheet belongs, see 1862,0712.394.f. 7 recto (no. 13)
The figures on this and the previous sheet are a very free derivation from the so called "Tarocchi del Mantegna", a very successful cycle of engravings elaborated in Ferrara by an anonymous engraver known as Master E. It is difficult to establish weather these drawings are preparatory for the frescoes of the Sala dell'Astronomia in Minerbio, as suggested by Bober (1957, pp. 10, 79), or weather they are a rielaboration of the prints then used at a later stage in the frescoes with even more liberty, as tentatively suggested by Faietti-Scaglietti (1995, p. 84). A connection to the frescoes would in any case fit well with the dating of this drawing-book (1535-40) and the possibility that also the previous sheets are connected to the frescoes in Castello Isolani in Minerbio (see entries 1862,0712.394-398). See both Bober and Faietti-Scaglietti for further comments about the iconography of the figures and the most recent contribution by Scaglietti in the Bologna exhibition catalogue (2008-09, pp. 248-51).
On this drawing are 'Melpomene' (B. XIII.134.34; BM 1895,0915.17), and 'Theologia' (B. XIII.127.47, BM 1845,0825.323) at the top, 'Musicha' (B.XIII.126.43; BM 1845,0825.315) and 'Poesia' (B.XIII.126.44; BM 1845,0825.317) at the bottom. According to Bober (cit.) Melpomene is a study for the same figure frescoed in Castello Isolani in Minerbio, while Scaglietti (cit., p. 250) refers to the drawing only to confirm the iconography of the subject in the fresco.Lit.: P.P. Bober, 'Drawings after the Antique by Amico Aspertini. Sketchbooks in the British Museum', London 1957; M. Faietti - D. Scaglietti Kelescian , 'Amico Aspertini', Modena 1995; D. Scaglietti Kelescian in 'Amico Aspertini. Artista bizzarro nell'età di Dürer e Raffaello', exhibition catalogue Bologna 2008-09.f. 7 verso (no. 14)
As observed by Bober (1957, pp. 79-80), the four figures are strongly foreshortened as if hovering in the air and they could be a study for a ceiling decoration. She further suggests that this composition and the one on the following drawing (1862,0712.401 recto), as a general impression, bring to mind the figures accompanying God in Michelangelo's 'Conversion of St. Paul'. This could be a problematic comparison, considering the present drawing book is generally believed to date between 1535 and 1540, while the frescoes date 1542-50.Lit.: P.P. Bober, 'Drawings after the Antique by Amico Aspertini. Sketchbooks in the British Museum', London 1957.